Month: October 2021

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s often-strained relations in past years with European economic powerhouse Germany have taken center stage during a visit to Athens by outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel as both the country’s president and prime minister aired past grievances. President Katerina Sakellaropoulou was Merkel’s first official meeting during

COTABATO, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine military says it has killed one of the country’s most-wanted Muslim militant leaders and his wife who were affiliated with the Islamic State group and were blamed for deadly bomb attacks, killings and extortion in the south for more than a decade. A regional military commander says army and

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida faces a crucial test in Sunday’s national parliamentary elections, which will determine if his government will have enough support to stay in power long enough to repair the pandemic-hit economy, and tackle climate change and China’s rise. Kishida dissolved the lower

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Talks to hammer out a new ruling Dutch coalition have broken the record for the longest post-election government formation negotiations. They hit 226 days Friday. The previous Dutch record was held by the last government, which was made up of the same four parties currently

By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press ROME (AP) — The G-20, whose annual summit plays out in Rome this weekend, has morphed from its creation in the 1990s as an international group to grapple with financial crises into a forum facing such pressing problems as worldwide vaccine access and climate change. Whether its structure is still

By SYLVIE CORBET and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press ROME (AP) — President Joe Biden has told French President Emmanuel Macron that America was “clumsy” in its orchestration of a secret U.S.-British submarine deal with Australia. The contract left France in the lurch because France believed it had a similar deal with Australia. Biden and Macron

By FRANCESCA EBEL Associated Press NABEUL, Tunisia (AP) — A landmark case that helped galvanize Tunisia’s #MeToo movement has reached court, involving a legislator charged with sexual harassment and public indecency. Feminist activists held a small protest outside the courthouse, shouting chants and waving placards. In 2019, a schoolgirl posted photos on social media of

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Chinese tech giant Huawei’s sales fell 32% from a year earlier in the first nine months of 2021 under U.S. sanctions and following the sale of its Honor smartphone brand. The chairman of Huawei Technologies Ltd. says its smartphone and other consumer-oriented businesses have been significantly

By DAVID McHUGH and JOSH BOAK Associated Press ROME (AP) — The global economy is giving leaders of the Group of 20 countries a lot to talk about at their summit this weekend in Rome. The presidents and prime ministers representing 80% of the global economy will confront a recovery hampered by an energy crunch

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks are ending higher Friday as Wall Street closed out a milestone-setting week. Health care, communication services and technology companies rose. The three major indexes all set records: The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3% and Nasdaq closed 0.3%

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis is issuing an urgent appeal to world leaders ahead of the U.N. climate conference to take “radical decisions” to protect the environment and prioritize the common good. Francis delivered the “Thought for the Day” on the British Broadcasting Corp.’s morning radio program Friday ahead of the Sunday start of

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The island nation of Tonga has reported its first-ever case of COVID-19 after a traveler from New Zealand tested positive. Tonga is among the few remaining nations in the world that have avoided outbreaks of the virus. Like many of its neighbors, Tonga’s isolation has

JERICHO, West Bank (AP) — Tourists are being offered a new glimpse at one of the largest ancient mosaics in the Middle East after renovations undertaken by the Palestinian Authority with aid from Japan. The 930-square-meter (10,000-square foot) stone mosaic, with intricate geometric patterns, is part of what’s known as Hisham’s Palace. It was built

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is flying to a Group of 20 summit in Rome with one big goal. He hopes to persuade leaders of the world’s biggest economies to put their money where their mouth is at the U.N. climate summit in Scotland. Johnson wants to

By FRANK JORDANS and SETH BORENSTEIN Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — This year’s U.N. climate summit in Glasgow renews an urgent question to the international community: Can the world come together to confront the common enemy of global warming before it’s too late? World leaders will try to cajole each other into doing more to

By SETH BORENSTEIN and FRANK JORDANS Associated Press World leaders will gather in Scotland this weekend to try to get global warming under more control. Two weeks of intense climate change negotiations start Sunday, and some leaders say humanity’s future is at stake. The risk of failure looms large. None of the U.N.’s three goals

By HUZHONG WU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The U.S. wants to deepen its relationship with Taiwan, the self-ruled island claimed by China, which has become a major point of conflict in the strained U.S.-China relationship. Sandra Oudkirk, the new director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy, reiterated the U.S.

By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press SALAR, Afghanistan (AP) — Residents of the little Afghan village of Salar are embracing stability now that the war is over. After being caught in the crossfire during 20 years of fighting, any issues they have with Taliban rule are secondary to peace. But many draw the line at one

By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press SALAR, Afghanistan (AP) — Residents of the Afghan village of Salar are embracing stability now that the war is over. After being caught in the crossfire during 20 years of fighting, any issues they have with Taliban rule are secondary to peace. But many draw the line at one point:

By SARA BURNETT Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — In the fight to keep control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats need help from the few places where state lawmakers can make 2022 difficult for Republicans. Illinois Democrats delivered Thursday, using their dominance in state government to advance new congressional district maps intended to eliminate

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Wild winds in the city of Melbourne and across the Australian state of Victoria have torn off roofs, downed trees and left more than 450,000 homes without power. Energy manager AEMO says the damage was severe and warned that some customers wouldn’t have electricity over the weekend or even by early

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — No one has been charged in the killing of murderous Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger in a West Virginia prison three years ago. Authorities have never officially publicly identified any suspects and many questions remain unanswered. Chief among them is why the

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Voters in the coastal city of Virginia Beach will decide whether to approve one of the larger municipal bonds in the nation that would be used to protect against rising seas and intensifying hurricanes. A vote on the $568 million bond will be held Tuesday.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK, MICHELLE L. PRICE and KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York City is bracing for a worker shortage as its COVID-19 vaccine mandate looms and tens of thousands of municipal employees remain unvaccinated. Police officers, firefighters, garbage collectors and most other city workers faced a 5 p.m. Friday

By KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s most populous county will once again be closely watched in Tuesday’s municipal elections. Some Republicans have been itching for a state takeover of Fulton County, which includes most of Atlanta. The Democratic stronghold struggled to deliver smooth elections during the early months of the pandemic last

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press CHESTERFIELD, S.C. (AP) — An attorney told a judge that a South Carolina lawyer involved numerous police investigations has been cagey about his assets and should hand over control of his money to independent representatives so that he doesn’t engage in further fraud. The attorney told a judge Friday that

BEIJING (AP) — China’s government says President Xi Jinping will talk to global leaders at the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland by video link. China is the biggest source of carbon dioxide and other climate-changing industrial gases. Its government had left the world guessing what role Xi might play at the meeting that opens

By KRISTEN GELINEAU and VICTORIA MILKO Associated Press SYDNEY (AP) — The U.S. has expressed outrage and demanded an investigation after The Associated Press reported that Myanmar’s military has been torturing detainees in a systemic way across the country. The State Department said Friday the reports of torture by the military must be investigated and

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Joe Biden meets with Pope Francis on Friday, he won’t kiss the ring. Biden, who is only the second Catholic president in U.S. history, has said he eschews the traditional sign of respect because his mother told him not to — that no one is “better”

By JILL COLVIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Democrat Terry McAuliffe has brought out the biggest names in Democratic politics as he’s tried to maintain his edge in Virginia’s hotly contested gubernatorial race. He’s campaigned with former President Barack Obama and the first lady; appeared twice with President Joe Biden; and drawn crowds with

By LISA MASCARO and FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s big, messy and complicated as the Democratic leaders in Congress try to muscle President Joe Biden’s sweeping domestic policy package into law. Fallout was brutal Friday after Biden’s announcement of a $1.75 trillion framework, chiseled back from an initial $3.5 trillion plan, still

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Medicaid issues are turning up as winners in President Joe Biden’s social budget framework even as divisions force Democrats to hit pause on far-reaching improvements to Medicare. The blueprint Biden released Thursday fulfills a campaign promise to help poor people locked out of Medicaid expansion across the

By JACQUES BILLEAUD Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Nearly five years after Joe Arpaio was voted out as sheriff of Arizona’s most populous county, taxpayers have covered one of the last major bills from the thousands of lawsuits the lawman’s headline-grabbing tactics inspired. The overall legal tab for Arpaio’s six terms hit $100 million after

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin on a movie set has put a microscope on an often-unseen corner of the film industry where critics say the pursuit of profit can lead to unsafe working conditions. With a budget of around $7 million, the Western “Rust”

By JOHN FLESHER AP Environmental Writer WEITCHPEC, Calif. (AP) — Native tribes in the U.S. West are making progress toward restoring their ancient practice of treating lands with fire. For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples set fire to clear forest floors of undergrowth. It supported foods such as acorns and hazel wood used in baskets.

By JOSH BOAK, ZEKE MILLER and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — President Joe Biden says Pope Francis told him he’s a “good Catholic” and should keep taking Communion when the world’s two most prominent Roman Catholics met at the Vatican on Friday. Some conservatives have called for Biden to be denied the sacrament

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By SARA BURNETT Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — In the fight to keep control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats need help from the few places where state lawmakers can make 2022 difficult for Republicans. Illinois Democrats delivered Thursday, using their dominance in state government to advance new congressional district maps intended to eliminate

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Filled with pink and fuzzy things and cuddly bears, 6%DOKIDOKI, a tiny store in the heart of Tokyo’s Harajuku district, is bursting with “kawaii,” the Japanese for “cuteness.” What it doesn’t have enough of, as in zero, are foreign tourists. And it could sure use some.